KALAMAZOO,
MI –
Kirk Newman, 87, maneuvered recently around miniature statues, part of his latest project, located in a basement studio of the Park Trades Center.

Scattered throughout the studio are statues set to
be installed at Sherman Lake YMCA this month. Three are finished, while seven others
remain a work in progress.

Newman, living in Kalamazoo since 1949, has numerous
statues around the area. His works are featured at Bronson Park, the Kalamazoo
Institute of Arts and the courthouse.
His latest project, titled "Words of Humanity," will be his last major
piece, he said.

The idea began five years ago with Luke Austenfeld,
CEO of Sherman Lake YMCA, who wanted to display the "teachable moments" that
occur between counselors and campers.

"I have
always loved art and I have loved Kirk's art," said Austenfeld, who taught high
school art for six years prior to his arrival at Sherman Lake YMCA.

Austenfeld said that he explained his idea to Newman
as a project with two statues.

"I went and took some pictures of the kids," Newman said.
"I just thought to myself, 'What do I need to do to make this look complete?'"

Newman said that he wants his statues to depict
movement as people look up at them.

"Because with
kids, what is there but movement?" said Newman.

When Newman started this project, it quickly morphed
from two to 10 statues as well as a stele, a monolithic three-sided bronze
statue, which will have raised words of humanity on it such as honesty and
caring, going up its length.

"The children can reach up and touch these words,"
said Newman. "As they get taller, they can reach the higher words, the more
difficult words."

By his side, Newman has had three artists -- Joshua Diedrich, Helen Wyss and Joe Mitchell -- whom he
hired to help him with the large project.

"I would never have been able to get this done
without their help," Newman said. "I'm just not able to do all of the things by
myself that I once was."

The statues will cost a total of $225,000. The
Sherman Lake YMCA has raised $125,000 so far and will hold an event this month to
unveil three of the statues as well as ask support from the community to help
complete the project.

The statues will be displayed in a circle with the
stele in the center in front of the main dining building, Kellogg Hall.

Austenfeld said that the statues serve three main
purposes for Sherman Lake YMCA:

It is a visual reminder of the teachable
moment that happens between counselors and kids.

It is a teaching tool for counselors at
Sherman Lake YMCA to teach their campers the importance of the words.

It is a piece of art.

Though this piece will be Newman's last major undertaking, he
said that he doesn't know what the future will bring.

"I think sculptors are cursed with having to make something," said Newman. "Since the beginning of time, people have been making things."

The statues that Newman is creating for Sherman Lake
YMCA will be seen by 70 percent of Kalamazoo Public School students' in grades
5-12, Austenfeld said. Sherman Lake YMCA also hosts numerous tours that will also expose
thousands of other people to these pieces.

As of Sept. 12, the rocks among which the statues will sit on have been placed in front of the dining hall. The first three statues are being coated to protect the statues from weathering, according to Austenfeld.

"We are getting the statues this week, and we hope to erect them early next week," Austenfeld said. "We are hoping to have an unveiling event within the next two weeks."